Spirits in the Home

A poltergeist or something else?

We live with and in parallel with many other beings, some visible to us, others not so much. As an animist, my work is to explore the conversations around decentering humans, and the practice we can engage in to be in relationship with the energies and consciousness that are in us and greater than us.

I’ve discussed domestic spirits in my writing on Substack as well as an e-course titled Household Spirits (available on my On-Demand Library). We live with (rather than those beings live with us!) land spirits that are either bound to the geography or the materials of our home. There are also familiars (daemons) who move with us throughout the day, and often ancestral energies that visit us.  

In recent weeks, many of you have reported poltergeist phenomena (noisy spirits or spirits who move / break objects) in your midst. Some have also asked if I believe in curses or unwell spirits.

While these are all possible, and my intention here is not to discount the validity of poltergeists, there is also one more possibility that are often overlooked yet is a plausible and more common cause.

As an animist, I have often discussed the potency and wisdom of our emotions, and have frequently referred to our emotions as beings. If you’re in my current Prayers + Devotions series, the monthly Magick of Tea series in collab with @O5tea, and even in my Mystery Mentorship series, I often share how I am a student of my emotions. 

And it is in these experiences, where my emotions are very present—perhaps the most challenging ones—that I also encounter “poltergeist” activity. A teapot inexplicably breaking, doorknobs being stuck, doorbells going off, lights flickering or not working at all, foul scents, and so forth— mischievous ghost? 

Yet, contrary to my usual mediumship, I don’t hear them in the same way I typically communicate with spirits. Instead, what I’ve noticed is that parts of me are louder and more conflicted during these moments.

And here’s the thing — I’ve learned often than not, it isn’t “noisy spirits” that are the cause of these physical disturbances in the home, but “the spirits of noise”. The events are not from a “frustrated ghost”, but the product of a “ghost of frustration”. 

We are the energies that make us and live with us, and when there is internal conflict, these psychic powers are materializing physically. 

We can say that we cannot find peaceful in a “haunted” space. Yet if we are the ones who are “haunted”, then the space cannot be peaceful. 

Relating to the animism of our emotions (and everything around us) reminds us of how everything is alive and significant.

If you value my work, consider signing up for my substack or hang out on my website shopceremonie.com for more. 

— Mimi Young,
Animist-Intuitive and Founder of Ceremonie